Brooklyn, Day 2, 3/20/19

   Today we walked to the 9th Street Station and each got 7-day unlimited ride subway passes. We took the D train into Manhattan. It was a lovely day. We got out at 42nd St by Bryant Park, went to a Whole Foods and got some take out to eat in the park in the sunshine.

   We then walked to 45th Street to the Bernard Jacobs Theatre where we saw Jez Butterworth's amazing play, The Ferryman. It is set during the Troubles during the time of the hunger strikes. It tells the story of a former IRA activist who abandoned it to become a farmer in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It has a large cast, mostly members of the Carney family. Quinn Carney, the activist-turned-farmer, has 7 children. The kids made for moments of comedy and were terrific. Quinn has fallen in love with the widow of his brother who has lived with the Carneys for 10 years with her 14-year old son. Seamus Carney's body, dead for 10 years, was recently discovered. He was executed by the IRA for "making mistakes." Three elders also live in the family - Aunt Pat who is a zealous supporter of the IRA, senile Aunt Maggie Far Away, who has her lucid moments and makes prophesies for the children in those moments and Uncle Pat, an earnest and peaceable man. Three male cousins from Derry visit for the Harvest which is being celebrated. One of them has recently joined the IRA and is full of rage. Quinn's wife, Mary, has taken to her bed for the past years, mostly to avoid seeing her husband fall in love with Caitlin Carney, Seamus's widow. The cast was rounded out by Muldoon, an IRA leader, two of his henchmen and the family priest who is being blackmailed by Muldoon. Whew - so complex, so full of wisdom, tragedy and pain. Family vs politics and which to put first. We were blown away by it. 

     And, surprisingly, we met the Artistic Director of Theatre Workshop coming out the same exit! What are the odds?
    Afterwards, we took the D train home, getting some take out on the way home.
    A wonderful day and a play we will talk about for years.

Set of The Ferryman